


Marigold

by Grimmseye



Series: Vampire/Hunter Blups [2]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Edit: It will be part three, F/M, Misunderstandings, Not sure if I'll get to it in this fic or make a part three we'll see, Vampire Hunters, Vampires, angst with an eventual happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-24 19:32:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16646348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grimmseye/pseuds/Grimmseye
Summary: Lup felt her snarl fade. She blinked.Oh.It all clicked into place. And for the first few seconds, it just hurt. But it was so much easier tohate.---------Companion piece to Snapdragon





	Marigold

**Author's Note:**

> As stated in the summary, this fic is a companion piece to [Snapdragon.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16194329)

It was probably stupid of her to think that, after  _ this  _ long, she’d learn how to make good choices. 

Vis-a-vis  _ love,  _ that was to say. And most aspects of her life, but  _ love  _ was the prevailing one. 

_ Was,  _ because Lup at that moment had been almost, terrifyingly certain she’d found the right one. 

She’d always sort of had a  _ type,  _ is the thing. Larger-set, blue eyes —  _ blue eyes  _ have lead her astray one too many times, and there she was, letting them take her to the edge again. 

But Barry was different. She knew, now, the warning signs. There were only so many times she could get into a relationship that ended with an attempt on her life — really, now that she’d gotten  _ that _ over and done with, odds were that it was smooth sailing from there. 

Like. Seriously. Even if things turned out terrible, it couldn’t get as bad as Greg _fucking_ Grimaldis. 

But she’d been sure it wasn’t going to turn out terrible, because the thing about Barry was that he was just. He was  _ good.  _ They met when he knocked her umbrella aside in a downpour and he immediately shuffled her to the nearest shop to get her a coffee and three dozen apologies. She left with his jacket but gave her phone number as payment, and by the end of the night there was a hesitant string of texts that amounted to  _ ‘Can I see you again?’  _

He did.  _ They  _ did. He blushed when she teased him and he paid for meals — not because he was the man, but because he knew she’d been a little tight on money. He never expected anything  _ for  _ it but she was happy to show her thanks regardless. 

Lup had always let things burn bright and fast, but Barry kept her slow, easing her deeper, learning each other with the relaxation of two people who had all the time in the world, even when that was only true for one.

She didn’t like to think about that. Someday, she thought, she’d tell him. Or, someday they’d break up. It was sort of a one-or-the-other kind of deal, but each day pushed her closer and closer to the first. The fleeting thought became a possibility, became a tentative plan, became words spinning through her brain until Taako shrieked at her cause she’s burning dinner  _ again.  _

“Just fuckin’  _ tell  _ him,” he’d groaned. “Or let him catch you with your fangs out. Watch fucking  _ Twilight  _ and re-enact the reveal scene with him, I  _ don’t care,  _ but he’s halfway through his natural goddamn lifespan and it’s all  _ downhill  _ from there!”

They snipped back and forth at each other and it amounted to the same thing as always: she’d been waiting for the right moment. And neither of them were quite happy with that, but neither of them had a better solution. 

Cause that was the other thing about Barry:  _ Taako  _ liked him. It was something she hadn’t realized was a  _ thing,  _ Taako just hating her partners, until the moment it wasn’t there. 

Lup hadn’t been the only one who wanted Barry there. He was sort of like family, or was well on his way in. Amazing, she thought, how quickly he’d slotted into their lives.

They thought they still had years to spare, years to go forward considering the future, considering if Barry wanted to become a permanent fixture in their lives. They’d known that until  _ he _ knew _ ,  _ he wouldn’t be able to weigh this choice. 

So, Lup needed to tell him. Plain and simple. 

 

* * *

  
  


She remembered a day at the aquarium. Maybe one of the most cliche dates, according to Barry, but the truth was she’d never been. And when Barry found out that  _ Taako _ hadn’t been, either, he invited her brother along. 

Lup knew she loved him, then. She knew he was the right one. She watched her boys wander through the darkened exhibit of jellyfish, how Taako stood and stared at the nettles while Barry read their plaque aloud. They saw otters, and sharks, they walked a tunnel through the waters that sea lions swam in and saw them spiral slow alongside the glass walls. She leaned over the edge of a tank to pet a ray and watched Taako wiggle his fingers at an octopus that curled its arms in turn. Lorikeets fluttered to perch on Barry’s head and wrist and squawk over the nectar he held for them, and she laughed and took a photo of his nervously-grinning face while one of the birds nibbled his ear. 

She and Taako splurged in the giftshop, a stuffed octopus toted home in Taako’s arms and a blue shark in Lup’s, and she fell asleep in the front seat of the car still holding it, lulled into slumber by the sound of Barry and Taako’s chatter as the lights of the highway slid across her cheeks.

It was a day with her two favorite people. She loved Taako, and she loved Barry. They loved her, and they loved each other, and driving home with them, she’d never felt so safe, so at peace, and so sure she wanted this forever. 

She just had to ask if Barry did, too. 

 

* * *

  
  


The end of her world came with Taako calling, “I’m grabbing a bite!” before he shut the door. 

She didn’t know it at the time, of course, because this was just a piece of their schedule. When they had time, when the satiation of their last meal began to wane, they preferred to replenish it sooner rather than later. 

Head out for the night, usually to a bar, where the crowds were thick and the minds were slow. Easier to charm. Easier to let them take you home to just steal a bite and the memory of it, and slip back out with only the stars to witness. 

There was no reason for it to be any different. It had been a few years since they stepped into this life — since they were dragged into it, really, her kicking and screaming and Taako with a cold sheen of fear on his skin. They knew how to take care of themselves. 

Then she woke up in the morning, and when she went to wake Taako, he wasn’t there. Not in bed. Not in the kitchen. No note on the table. No texts on her phone. There was nothing. 

First, she felt apprehension. It was when he didn’t pick up her call that it iced over into fear. Two, three times she hit voicemail, but she couldn’t panic yet. It wasn’t the first time this had happened, just the first in a  _ while.  _

He was fine. He’d probably just gotten distracted by a handsome boy (again) and fallen too fast and too hard (again) and he’d call her back in an hour or two gushing about the plans he already had for the date he’d be taking this boy out on next week. 

The hours stretched out. No work today, she’d planned to do more research, call some helpful numbers. She was growing bored of working a desk job that hardly paid the bills when she knew she could do bigger and better. She wanted to do something she loved. She wanted to have a nice kitchen for her brother and a larger bed to share with Barry and maybe the money to do things like take them both to the aquarium and not have to budget her groceries after.

A date with Barry became the distraction she needed. Her first time in his house, he showed her around, sat at a piano she hadn’t known he could play, and the two of them kissed on the bench until their stomachs growled and they got up to order dinner. Dessert was served with her on the edge of the bed and him on his knees, mouth hot around her and fingers curled tight in his hair.    
  
It was enough to get her to sleep, tucked close to his side. She kissed his neck, and the feeling of his pulse against her lips made her want to groan. 

Nothing was quite as tantalizing as what she couldn’t have. The one piece of him she wasn’t allowed to take, stoking the first stirring of hunger into an ache that had her grinding her teeth until it ebbed away. Only then was she able to drift off. 

Not for long, though, because Barry was awoken at three in the morning, his housemate in some sort of trouble, leaving Lup to collect her things and slip back home in the darkness before dawn.

Her apartment was still empty when she shut the door. 

Then she nearly collapsed. 

Lup’s back hit the wall. She slid down, head swimming, thoughts wrenched away from herself to be threaded to another. She didn’t fight it, let the strings bind together and weave into an image, a sensation. Her neck burned but it’s  _ nothing  _ compared to the agony of her chest, material of her shirt plastered to her skin by a sticky heat. Hunger, but stronger than that is fear,  _ get away from _ — from  _ him, them, she needs to get away.  _

Who, Lup clawed to know  _ who.  _ She latched onto a memory and dragged it towards herself, caught dark skin and long-lashed eyes, a face that would be pretty if it weren’t twisted into a snarl, if blood wasn’t seeping from ragged punctures, if there wasn’t a knife gleaming in his hand, the metal coated in a sheen of red. 

As quickly as it came over her, the vision snapped away, an elastic band that left her stinging. Lup braced a hand against her racing heart, gasping, cold fear pouring down her back.

Taako’s alive, she knew that. But he’d been hurt, and she didn’t know  _ when,  _ she didn’t know  _ where,  _ or by  _ who.  _ She had a face, though, and if she found it before she found her brother, it would be a face left mangled in the ground. 

 

* * *

  
  


Barry’s advice was so painfully obvious that she wanted to tear her hair out.  _ Ask around the bar, _ she should have done that day one. She picked a coat with a hood that would keep her face covered, and then she called a cab to take her to Redcheek’s. 

It was a much nicer place than what they used to hit up — seedy bars were the best for an easy meal, but with enough care, enough practice, they’d learned to branch out. Hunters wouldn’t frequent a place like this. 

So then, how had Taako gotten caught?

She kept her hood down for the time being, face turned towards the floor. Her eyes lifted, scanning the bar, searching for any indication there could be hunters. 

It found her, first. A buzz in the air — magic. She felt it crawl over her skin and cursed, abjured herself before it could dig too deep. Then she seized the threads of energy to let it tug her back to the source. 

She found him at the back of the bar. Leaning against a wall, making casual conversation with another man. Hatred seized Lup at once. 

She wanted to lung for him. She wanted to slam him against a wall and dig her nails into his throat to force him to  _ talk,  _ because that was the man. That was the one she saw in Taako’s memory, the one with the knife. 

That hunter that had attacked her brother. 

He was on guard, though, and Lup knew to bide her time. She blended with the crowd, watching as he split away, head sweeping — looking for someone. For her, probably, though who he found was a figure in a red sweatshirt. 

Her lip curled.  _ Two _ . That’s good. She could just kill one if need be, make a point, let the other know what she meant. She didn’t like killing much, but personal morals took a backseat to finding her brother.

The two both made a line for the back door.  _ Idiots.  _ A vicious sort of grin crossed her mouth as she slipped out on her own. It was easy business, skirting around the perimeter of the building. By the time she reached the side alley, the two hunters were already out. A beam of light flicked over the ground, searching, wrong way. 

Lup pounced. 

She took the red one out first, something inside of her wincing at the  _ crack  _ of their head against the wall. It was an ugly sound, and they crumpled. The taller of the two spun for her, but she was already moving, forced him back to pin him against the wall by his throat. She shot up into his face, not caring that he could see hers as she spat,  _ “Where is my brother!” _

The man surged back against her. She caught his wrist before he could grab his knife, slamming him back with intent to  _ hurt,  _ twisting his arm up by his head. She bared her fangs, hissed, “ _ Tell me,  _ or I’m going to fucking  _ kill  _ you.”

Suddenly she was wrenched away. Her hood fell, her turn to hit the wall. The other hunter was on his feet, somehow shaking off a blow that should have knocked him out cold. For a moment, her only intent was to free herself enough to rake her claws across his eye, take out one of those pretty blues —

_ Blue.  _

Lup felt her snarl fade. She blinked. 

It was Barry. Barry, in a red sweatshirt, in the alley of Redcheeks, where he’d told her to go, holding her now against a wall with a knife against the side of her neck. 

_ Oh.  _

It all clicked into place. And for the first few seconds, it just  _ hurt.  _ But it was so much easier to  _ hate.  _

She found no resistance when she pushed herself from the wall, the two of them stumbling paces across the alley as she wrenched his hand away from her and smelled the blood that burst under her fingernails. The fury, the hurt, the betrayal, it poured from her mouth, her eyes burning and tongue tasting of venom as she screams it at Barry. 

He finally pushed back, before she could decide if she wanted to tear his throat open. She staggered, but before she could retaliate, she saw his partner back on his feet. Two against one. The noise was sure to draw attention. 

Lup met Barry’s eyes. Her gaze flicked to his knife, the self-assured grip, the glint of a blade designed to kill her. Up to a face she knew, she’d woken up to with a warm spark of joy, now distorted beyond recognition.

Then she turned, and she runs, and like this it didn’t matter how her eyes burn because  _ he couldn’t see it.  _

Taako was gone. Barry was gone. Barry was never there at  _ all. _

She should have  _ known,  _ she should have  _ seen.  _ He was too good, too perfect, nothing in the world could ever work like that for her. And  _ this  _ was the punishment.

She’d let him in and he took everything from her. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Edit: This was originally intended to be a multichap. Instead, I've decided it's best if the next part is a separate story. Look forward to _Dahlia!_


End file.
